The Aftermath of the Holocaust  Historical Film Footage

Displaced persons leave for the United States

Munich, Germany, May 17, 1949

[Silent, 2:50]

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 National Archives - Film

At the end of World War II, the Allied powers in Europe repatriated from Germany millions of displaced persons (DPs). The remaining 1.5 to 2 million DPs—both Jews and non-Jews—refused or were unable to return to their prewar homes. Immigration restrictions precluded the large-scale admission of these refugees to other European countries and the United States. They remained in occupied Germany until they could arrange to settle in another country. In this footage, filmed more than four years after the war, displaced persons in Munich pack their belongings and board a US airplane for the trip to the United States.